Perhaps, Joe, I should be more exact. We are not discussing motion of
electrons through a material. The concept of tunneling might be useful
to describe this behavior. We were discussing nuclear reactions.
Tunneling is applied when a reaction that should not be possible based
on a theory is found to actually occur at an unexpected rate. This
conflict with theory is then explained by the ability of the process
to avoid the expected barrier and pass under it, so to speak. This
allows the original theory to be retained even though behavior is not
properly described. Instead, a whole new theory is superimposed on the
original flawed description. I prefer to change the original concept
to avoid the need to create a new concept. In fact, the existence of
LENR shows that the original concept is incomplete. Invoking
"tunneling" simply hides the problem.
Ed Storms
On May 3, 2013, at 9:44 AM, Joseph S. Barrera III wrote:
On 5/3/2013 8:31 AM, Edmund Storms wrote:
> Eric, tunneling in my mind is not real. It is a conceptual ploy to
fix a flawed understanding of how a process actually works.
Consequently, I do not use this concept.
Tunneling is very real. Semiconductor manufacturers have to worry
about tunneling already. It's a massive problem for them as they
continue to shrink feature size, as the electrons simply tunnel
through the gate when they shouldn't, and below a certain size the
transistor is "always on".
- Joe
